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Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
The BEST Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies. The Famous Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe that everyone goes crazy over!
I’ve got issues.
I am a cookie junkie of epic proportions.
There’s probably a support group somewhere for people like me.
When I was a teenager, I would go to the library and thumb through cookbooks to find every single chocolate chip cookie recipe and would beg my Mom to try out the recipe creations almost daily. Issues, I tell you.
I started off by following recipes and then I thought….let’s take a walk on the wild side and start experimenting by throwing stuff in and see what happens. What’s the worst that can happen? Well, that’s another story. Little tweaks here and there were the difference makers – browning the butter, raising or lowering the temperature of the oven, and trying out some interesting ingredients.
When I won a trip to NYC to film a perfect cookie segment for the Cooking Channel’s Perfect 3 Show in the Food Network studios, I went online to seek out the best bakeries in Manhattan. The highest rated cookie was awarded to Levain Bakery and I knew that it had to be mine. Pronto.
Oh, and it was legit. Legit and different. Unique in such a way that I had to figure out how in the world they did it. I became a mad scientist in the kitchen to figure out the how to make the Famous Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies.
I developed a massive crush on a cookie.
I have never, ever worked on a recipe as much as this one. Another trip had to be made to NYC in the name of food science to do some more investigative research. A trip to the Truvia Baking Star competition in NYC meant multiple trips to buy my favorite cookie. We rode our bikes in the freezing cold just for that one bite. By the time we arrived, my feet were frozen, but sacrifices have to be made, right?
I came home and tweaked some more and then it happened…. that glorious batch was perfection and I finally had it.
I was taught in kindergarten that it’s nice to share so that’s what I am doing. Sharing my years of experimenting so we can all have Levain at home. It’s just the right thing to do.
Let’s start with the basics.
Use cold butter. Cut into small cubes. Since you are collecting it straight out of the fridge, you need to cut it into small pieces so the butter and sugar can become friends and make a creamy masterpiece. It takes about 4 minutes for them to warm up and become besties.
This is where it’s all over for me….cookie dough. It’s my kryptonite, unfortunately, and I blame my hips on this goodness. Who else loves this stuff?
Now, these aren’t some ordinary bite-size cookies. No these are a full-on meal. Well maybe for some people. Here’s the deal – you make them big. Really big. Like only four can fit on a cookie sheet, BIG. These are the BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER. Yep, I said it.
Usually, with thick cookies, they turn out like hockey pucks – cakey messes that hardly resemble a gooey cookie.
This is where these are different. We are going to crank up the heat in the oven to cook the outside quickly and leave that center nice, warm and gooey. As a cookie should be.
There are a few ingredients and techniques that set these cookies apart. First, you use cornstarch to add thickness without making the cookie dry. It does wonders in these cookies! Using cake flour also lends to a more tender cookie but you can also substitute all-purpose flour. Here’s one of my favorite cake flours — King Arthur Cake Flour
I am a huge fan of using nonstick silicone baking mats (Silpat) placed on top of the cookie sheets, which allows the cookies to be easily removed from the pan and to bake nicely. My cousin gave me a set as a gift years ago and I had no idea what I was missing out on! These are ones I have loved —Silicone Baking Sheets – 2 pack
You may want to eat these Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies the second they come out of the oven, but patience is a virtue and you must exercise some with these cookies. They need to “set up” so give them at least 10-15 minutes before you devour them. The amazing part of these cookies is that they are the only cookies I have ever made that are still cookie perfection even after a few days.
If you LOVE these cookies, you will love these other Levain Bakery copycat recipes:
- Levain Bakery Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
- Levain Bakery Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
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Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Crush Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cold Butter cut into small cubes
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 1/2 cups Cake Flour*
- 1 1/2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups Chocolate Chips
- 2 cups Walnuts roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 410 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together cold cubed butter, brown sugar, and sugar for 4 minutes or until creamy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.
- Stir in flours, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined to avoid overmixing. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
- Separate dough into large balls and place on lightly colored cookie sheet. They are bigger than you think! You will fit 4 cookies on one large cookie sheet. The dough makes 8 extra large cookies.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown on the top. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes to set.
Video
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Now go make some Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies! You need one (or two or three….no judging here) of these warm, gooey cookies, a big glass of cold milk and a to-do list with nothing on it except catching up on Netflix or those cheesy Holiday Hallmark movies that somehow keep playing on my TV.
If you are a huge fan of Levain Bakery cookies or just eating the best chocolate chip cookies, you will love my other copycat recipes — Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies and Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.
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Happy Baking!
I only have plain or self raising flour so does this mean 3 cups of Plain flour if this is the case? I’ve made this recipe 3 times now and it’s nothing like how yours look, not gooey at all. I even reduced cooking time but still nothing like yours?
I had to subscribe to your channel to let you know that these cookies were the ABSOLUTE BEST COPY CAT VERSION of a LEVAIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE I ever made. These were so so so good!!! I can’t even begin to explain how good they were. Never thought a cookie could could taste this yummy. Thank you for the recipe!!
I made these the other day. The best chocolate Chip cookies I’ve ever made. The whole family agrees. Now replacing old favorite recipe with this one. Thank you.
Excellent recipe for the thickest choc chip cookie ever! I added Vanilla and Almond extract, and used only regular flour. In addition I use Kerrigold Irish Butter and add a little extra cornstarch for chewyness. Then I allow the batter to either refrigerate or freeze. The cookies turn out amazing! Make sure to take them off the baking sheet after a min or two so bottoms don’t burn. Good luck!
Do you have a gram conversion of this recipe along with the dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie?
I made a conversion online, but I don’t know if it is accurate.
225g butter
215g brown sugar
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
115g cake flour
120g plain flour
1 tsp corn-starch
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
350g chocolate
250g walnuts
I’m making quite a big batch so i don’t wanna mess up.
These cookies did NOT disappoint! Oh my freaking god! They came out amazing and HUGE! Love love love. Will be putting the rest of the batch of dough in the freezer to make at a later date. Well done!!
Hellloooo… pretty rounded home baker here. This was my second attempt at your Levain cookies (first time was the chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips) and I made those maybe 2 years ago… they were so tasty, but I had issues with the size + bake time, as I’ve read some other reviewers, and did end up with undercooked (raw) cookies, which were obviously deliciously fudgey the next day, but not quite what I’d aimed for. That time I followed the recipe to a T EXCEPT I made them a little smaller and came out with I think 10. Fast forward to today, I had some cake flour and knew I wanted to try another round Levain cookies! THIS time, now the proud owner of a kitchen scale, I made these cookies identical in size and got exactly 8. 9 min in, they were just browned on top just like in your photos, pulled them out. 10 min wait. Break into one and… totally raw inside! Like, a half centimeter past the outside of the cookie, just raw gooey dough. What?! Kinda at a loss, put em back in for a couple minutes… let them sit longer… and still pretty gooey raw. My oven runs near perfect temp… my butter was cold, the flours weighed… I know enough about baking now to use my instincts even with a recipe, but I told myself that if you got these results with this recipe then I have to at least try it exactly again. Looking back I just would have made them smaller and lower temp I guess. Now, I am certain that when you make these at home, they are perfect 🙂 I just can’t figure how me and a couple other reviewers can end up with less than perfect results! Just kinda sad! lol.
And as a total side note for anyone else; if your normal go-to is Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies like me, then my personal preference would be to add vanilla to these, there seems a certain magic flavor element lost without it.
I have made this recipe several times and it is perfection.. just like the ones from Levains… I like to toast the walnuts before adding to the cookie…
I’ve also changed out the chips several times to create different variations of the cookie with great results..
I skipped the walnuts in one batch and added peanut butter cups and the result was delicious..
In another attempt, I dropped the walnuts and chocolate chips and replaced with 2 cups butterscotch chips and 1 cup white chocolate chips. The result tasted like white chocolate macadamia cookies without the nuts. Next try will be with the addition of macadamia nuts…
This is a fantastic recipe!!!
Cookie fiend here, like yourself.
I LOVE Levain cookies. Obsessed.
Dare I say that these are even better?! These. Cookies. Are. The. Truth.
I turned the tray half way through the bake time, which I think helped for an even bake. Also, this time I did half peanut butter morsels and half chocolate chips instead of walnuts. We are making ice cream sandwiches out of the cookies for our family, if we can stop ourselves from inhaling them first!
Thank you thank you!
did you pack down the brown sugar?
Didn’t have walnuts so I made with cashews. So yummy! They’re definitely HUGE but in a good way.